Planning Your New KS3 Geography Curriculum

(2008 – 2011)

Where to start?

Do I want…..

• to do nothing ?

• to modify my schemes of work ?

• to make a fresh start ?

Is ‘doing nothing’ an option ?

YES (possibly) :

• if teachers and pupils love the current schemes of work

• if pupils show their commitment to Geography by opting in large numbers at GCSE

• if the SMT are happy with what you are currently doing

• if you have checked that you are covering all the requirements of the new PoS

• if you can satisfy an OFSTED inspection

But – OFSTED will be looking in future for ‘Disciplined Innovation’

What about just making some changes ?

Key questions to ask:

• what do I want to keep ?

• what to I want to get rid of ?

• what do I want to add ?

Making choices then raises the question of geographical SIGNIFICANCE….

What about making a fresh start?

Whether you want to modify your schemes of work or whether you want to make a fresh start, you need to begin by making some choices…

….so, what to teach ?

Making choices raises the question of geographical SIGNIFICANCE…………so what makes something ‘geographically significant’?

The scale ? The geographical extent ?

The number of people affected ?

Is it new ? Is it threatening ? Is it enduring ?

Is it important for the future ? Whose future ?

Its topicality ? Its uniqueness ? Its fragility ?

Its significance to you ? To your learners ? To the world ?

Support for teachers - A teacher’s toolkit for KS3

Places• Into Africa: how are

our lives connected to Africa?

• Rise and rise of China: where does China go from here?

• British or European: who do you think you are?

Themes• Water works: do we

have equal rights to resources?

• Faster, higher, stronger: are the Olympics the best way to regenerate East London?

• A thorny issue: would you buy a Valentine’s rose?

• Look at it this way: what are your views on landscapes?

Issues• Change the world:

what difference can we make to climate?

• Moving stories:

why is the UK’s population changing?

• Future floods: can geographers make a difference?

Published by the Geographical Association – first books now published…..

Impossible Places

Fantastic Places

Risky World

Paradise Lost

Africa

Who wants to be a billionaire?

Adventure Landscapes

New India

London 2012

Available on the GeographyTeachingToday website and created by the Royal Geographical Society

[Seven more units to be added by July 2008]

Support for teachers – New units for KS3

SIGNIFICANCE:Look at each of the following lists and choose a place OR a theme OR an issue that you think is geographically significance for your new KS3. Be prepared to justify your choices!

ISSUES:Sustainable Energy [ ]Flooding in the UK [ ]Fairtrade [ ]Rainforest destruction [ ]Ecotourism [ ]

THEMES:Water resources [ ]Urban settlements [ ]Weather [ ]Coastal landscapes [ ]Farming [ ]

PLACES:Brazil [ ]China [ ]Italy [ ]Sudan [ ]Poland [ ]

Creating a frameworkCreating a framework

for your for your

schemes of work…schemes of work…

Current Geography units at a typical school

Autumn Spring Summer

Y7

Making connections

Exploring the UK

Weathering & River Erosion

UK Flooding UK Settlement Geography of Football

Y8

Industrial

decline

Food miles Tectonics Weather and Climate

Brazil: Country of contrasts

Geography of Crime

Y9

Ecosystems People and Resources

Coastal Management

Weather Forecasting

Development Geography of Fashion

How to plan (1) – using a traditional planning grid

Y9

Y9

Y9

Y9

Y9

Y9

Y8

Y8

Y8

Y8

Y8

Y8

Y7

Y7

Y7

Y7

Y7

Y7 ……

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……………………. Dartboard Planning Grid

How to plan (2) – using a ‘dartboard’ style planning grid

Example 1: ‘dartboard’ style with themes and topics

Example 2: ‘dartboard’ style with themes, topics, lessons and links

Unfair world My place in the world Extreme places

Water world Connected world Going places

Diverse world Shrinking world Changing places

Dangerous world Wonderful world Threatened places

Rivers Population Local area

Flooding Migration UK

Weather and Climate Population & resources European Union

Microclimate Settlement France

Extreme weather Economic activities Italy

Climate change Energy resources Japan

Rocks / soils Food and Farming Australia

Weathering Trade / Aid / Fairtrade USA

Ecosystems - various Tourism Brazil

Environmental issues Globalisation India

Coastlines / management Development Ghana

Earthquakes Geog. of sport China

Volcanoes Geog. of crime Mexico

Tsunami Geog. of fashion Egypt

Landslides / avalanches Sustainable Development Antarctica

Possible overview titles for themes:

Popular current KS3 units:

Remember to be creative and add your own ideas!

Remember to be creative and add your own ideas!

Framing questions for enquiryFraming questions for enquiry

Ensure that these enquiry questions:• Capture the interest and imagination of pupils

• Place an aspect of geographical thinking or study at the forefront of pupils’ minds

• Result in tangible, lively, substantial, enjoyable ‘outcome activities’ through which pupils can genuinely answer the question

Framing your study of a place, theme or issue in the form of an enquiry question is an incredibly powerful approach!

Look at the following slide – are these good enquiry questions??

Should we allow the sea to reclaim areas of coastline ?

Should we introduce quotas on immigration into the UK ?

Is the world’s climate really changing because of us ?

Is the world becoming a riskier place ?

Do we really care about local shops ? If we did, wouldn’t we shop there ?

Finding room for ‘topicality’Finding room for ‘topicality’

“pertaining to or dealing with matters of current or local interest“

“currently of interest“

“of interest at the present time”

“relating to things which are happening at present”

“contemporary”

“relating to something that is of interest or importance at the moment”

What does it mean?

Telephone Bank Plan

First Direct, the fast-growing telephone bank owned by Midland Bank, yesterday announced the construction of a new telephone call centre in Scotland. It is expected to create 5000 new jobs during the next seven years. ‘This new site is designed to ensure that we have the space to expand our business well into the next century, said Keith Whitson, chief executive of Midland. First Direct said that its main reasons for locating in Scotland were economic. ‘In searching for a site, our main priority was to have access to a large, high-quality workforce.’

The Financial Times April 2nd 1997(Taken from a well-known KS3 textbook first published in 1999 and reprinted in 2003)

Passage from India: bank switches its customer calls back to UK

Lloyds TSB, the UK's biggest provider of current accounts, is bowing to customer demands and moving calls back to the UK from a service centre in India. The bank will even allow all of its current account customers to ring their local branches instead of a call centre in India which unions claim is unpopular. This marks a U-turn for the bank which has routed its calls through India since 2004.

The Guardian March 3rd 2007(Taken from an internet search on Google March 3rd 2007)

What has happened in the ten years between these two articles?

(most Year 7 pupils starting the new KS3 course will have been born in 1997)How ‘topical’ is this textbook article which starts off a double-page spread ?

Earthquake felt across much of UK The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across large parts of the country. The main 10-second quake, which struck at 0056 GMT at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles), was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.

(BBC News Report February 27th 2008)

How can you build in ‘topicality’ to How can you build in ‘topicality’ to your schemes of work?your schemes of work?

Leave gaps in your schemes of work ?

Stay flexible and react to events as they happen ?

Update every topic every year so everything is always fresh ?

• How did you react to this event ?

• Was it a significant event ?

• Which classes did you discuss the event with the following day ?

• Which classes, if any, did you do some work with based on this event ?

• Will it still be ‘topical’ when you next do earthquakes as a topic ?